What caused Joe Burrow's surprising Week 1 performance for Cincinnati Bengals?
Zac Taylor watched the tape from the Cincinnati Bengals’ Week 1 loss to the Cleveland Browns and summed it up with one word.
“It was frustrating to watch because there's so much anticipation around Week 1, and to not take advantage of some of the opportunities we had on offense and special teams was frustrating,” Taylor said on Monday afternoon.
The Bengals had one of their worst offensive performances – if not the worst – under Joe Burrow in Cleveland. Burrow completed only 14 passes for 82 yards and zero touchdowns. He looked rusty and the offense looked out of sync. Cincinnati was 2-of-15 on third down and amassed 142 yards of total offense on 54 plays.
Weather played a significant role in the outcome of the game. It was a signifcant factor in what Burrow was able to do through the air. Taylor said “it was probably the biggest rain game” he’s been a part of in 10 years. That was probably the biggest rain game I've been a part of in 10 years.
No one is using the weather as an excuse, though. Taylor’s coaching staff identified the necessary areas of improvement, and the team looks to move forward with another AFC North contest against the Baltimore Ravens coming up. Despite the loss to start the season, confidence remains high in the Bengals’ locker room.
“You don’t overstate a lot of the things that happen,” Taylor aid. “We are so confident in ourselves to move forward from. There are certainly things we could have done better, you take the elements out of it, you take the other team out of it, you take things usually we are much better at that we weren’t good enough on, some phases of offense in particular. Feel really strong those are things we cleaned up today and will be much better going forward.”
Burrow’s performance came as a surprise to everyone, including Bengals’ offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. Having missed as much time as he did in the preseason and training camp with his calf strain, some rust was to be expected. But not to the level we saw on Sunday.
Was it the weather? Was it his calf? Only Burrow knows that. According to Callahan, Burrow didn’t show any glimpses of hesitation during the practice week.
“I did not feel like we were off in any way, shape or form leading up to the, to the game week practices and the practices and then the game,” Callahan said. “I do think the weather threw it off quite a bit. You know, not to make an excuse for it, but I think that was a, a large part of it. But yeah, I didn't see that type of performance coming.”
Following the game, Burrow said his calf “felt good enough” which leaves questions as to how serious his strain might be. That will be the main storyline surrounding the Bengals until he proves it’s not a story.
As for if Callahan expects opponents to blitz the Bengals more with Burrow’s calf injury, he said he’s not able to predict what teams will do but is sure teams will test Burrow with it.
“I think we've shown we can handle it,” Callahan said. “And whether or not Joe's ability to move on tape looks like somebody feels like they want to come after him. I can't answer that for somebody else, but we've handled the blitz really well over the last couple years and, and I think we'll continue to handle the blitz well and that's not something I'm, I'm too concerned about. I'm sure somebody will, they'll test it and try it and, and if we respond in turn likely not to see it again. And if we don't, then they'll keep coming.”